Putting "baby" and "easy" in the same sentence turns you into one of those mothers we don't like very much. When you do, it makes us feel (more) inadequate; starts us wondering (again) what we are doing wrong.

She goes on to make the assumption that because she's rich, Mayer uses a "night nurse" to help take care of the kid. And she warns Mayer of the obvious: Babies are often "easy" during the first month or two until they turn into raging maniacs, who, for split seconds here and there, you loathe more than your worst enemy.

Author's Note : When I first read Belkin's story it included the assumption (Belkin actually said something like "We're guessing here") that Mayer uses a "night nurse." When I reread the story that part was gone. Mysterious. Maybe it will be back by the time you read this. End of Author's Note .

The snark some women direct at Mayer troubles me.

Since we're guessing here, I am guessing Belkin is jealous. Not a very deep thinker. And 1950s traditional.

First, it's offensive for Belkin to assume that just because Mayer has money she hires help. And, if she does, that's somehow unfair or makes motherhood less demanding, relative to a parent who was not the 20th employee at Google (GOOG) .

Second, Belkin offends me as a father. Not once in her article does she mention the possibility that Mayer's husband either shares some of the parenting load or takes on the bulk of it. Maybe the kid stays home alone when Mayer visits President Obama. Or there could be some state-funded socialist daycare program at The White House she utilizes.

I think Mayer lives in San Francisco. I lived there for the first two and a half years of my daughter's life. In my neighborhood, fathers strolling their babies by day often outnumbered mothers.

I woke up with my daughter every morning, put her down for two naps, walked her everywhere, took her to the park, changed her diapers and arranged play dates with other parents. When I had to be away prior to my wife returning home from work several nights a week, our neighbor, who doubled as a postal carrier, babysat our child.

It was an awesome experience. From the moment the doctor sliced open my wife's abdomen to that enlivening second when we realized we could manage to keep the kid alive past the age of one.